Central African Republic: The importance of being educated

Refugee children from Central African Republic attend a primary school in Democratic Republic of the Congo's Equateur province. Getting access to secondary or tertiary education is more difficult.

MOLE CAMP, Democratic Republic of the Congo, January 31 (UNHCR) – The worst thing about being a refugee for many of the young people in northern Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) is missing out on their education. This is especially true for those, like Yesson, who were in secondary or tertiary education before fleeing from Central African Republic to save their lives over the past year.

"We thought that we would find schools and that universities would be organized," the 25-year-old told UNHCR in Mole Refugee Camp, which is located 35 kilometres from the nearest big town – Zongo – and provides shelter to more than 9,000 refugees. That includes about 1,000 young people who were in secondary school or tertiary education back home.

There is a primary school in the Mole camp, where the Central African Republic syllabus is studied by 650 children. The school is currently being extended to host a further 650 children who have arrived since December 5, when fresh inter-communal violence flared in Central African Republic. But there is no secondary school.

Yesson was perhaps a bit naïve in expecting a network of schools, colleges and universities in this isolated, undeveloped and deprived region of DRC's Equateur province, but his concern about the provision of education for teenagers and young adults living in Mole or elsewhere is a valid and real one, shared by UNHCR and its partners.

Stefano Severe, UNHCR's Kinshasa-based regional representative, said that finding ways for the refugees in Mole and other camps to continue their education was a priority for the agency. "It is important to help them build their future in a constructive way," he added, while noting that education was important not just for gaining knowledge, but for keeping the young occupied constructively.

"We have learned from past experiences in refugee camps and we are aware that youth without any activity can have a negative impact on the atmosphere in the camp. If they are bored they are also at risk of manipulation and could be tempted to join armed groups in the Central African Republic,'' he warned.

Clearly many of the refugees, with plenty of time on their hands, are missing their education. "We can't stand it. It's serious if we don't study, for us and for our country. We are stagnating," stressed Yesson, who was studying accountancy and management at a private college in the nearby Central African Republic capital, Bangui, before fleeing across the Oubangui River to Zongo last October. "I get up in the morning and I do nothing until evening," he revealed.

Most of the students in Mole come from urban areas, mainly Bangui, and the older ones find it difficult to live in a rural area with no – or limited – education or employment opportunities.

Lamine Diop, head of UNHCR's field office in Zongo, acknowledged that providing access to secondary and tertiary education was a challenge. "We are exploring ways to enable some 700 secondary school students to continue their studies," he said, while calling on partners to help. In Boyabu Refugee Camp, also in Equateur, UNHCR is looking at ways to admit refugees to a nearby secondary school.

As it looks for solutions, UNHCR is building a cyber café so that the knowledge-thirsty students at least have access to information in Mole Camp. It's a positive move and welcomed by the students, but they want more.

"It would be even better to find ways to register students in universities," said 23-year-old art student, Cedrick. "Long-distance learning is a solution as well. When you have [Internet] connection, you have an opening to the world."

He and others also called for the creation of a cultural centre with library, but above all they dream of being allowed to leave Mole to study in the DRC capital, Kinshasa, or abroad. Instead, said Emmanuel Kouzouaki Yondo, president of the refugee committee in Mole, many of those with qualifications "are the victims of youth unemployment."

Most of the young refugees, at heart, wish that the conflict will end soon and allow them to go back and resume their studies and eventually start careers in their own country. "I am asking myself when this nightmare will finish," said a pessimistic and depressed Cedrick.

The Democratic Republic of the Congo is hosting nearly 60,000 refugees from Central African Republic, with about half of them living in four refugee camps. The others are with host families. With the new influx since December 5, the refugee population has increased significantly in some camps. In Mole, it has jumped from 4,000 to 9,000 in just over a month.

UNHCR/Partners Bring Aid to North Kivu

As a massive food distribution gets underway in six UNHCR-run camps for tens of thousands of internally displaced Congolese in North Kivu, the UN refugee agency continues to hand out desperately needed shelter and household items.

A four-truck UNHCR convoy carrying 33 tonnes of various aid items, including plastic sheeting, blankets, kitchen sets and jerry cans crossed Wednesday from Rwanda into Goma, the capital of the conflict-hit province in eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC). The aid, from regional emergency stockpiles in Tanzania, was scheduled for immediate distribution. The supplies arrived in Goma as the World Food Programme (WFP), with assistance from UNHCR, began distributing food to some 135,000 displaced people in the six camps run by the refugee agency near Goma.

More than 250,000 people have been displaced since the fighting resumed in August in North Kivu. Estimates are that there are now more than 1.3 million displaced people in this province alone.

Posted on 6 November 2008

UNHCR/Partners Bring Aid to North Kivu

UNHCR/Partners Bring Aid to North Kivu

Since 2006, renewed conflict and general insecurity in eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo's North Kivu province has forced some 400,000 people to flee their homes – the country's worst displacement crisis since the formal end of the civil war in 2003. In total, there are now some 800,000 people displaced in the province, including those uprooted by previous conflicts.

Hope for the future was raised in January 2008 when the DRC government and rival armed factions signed a peace accord. But the situation remains tense in North Kivu and tens of thousands of people still need help. UNHCR has opened sites for internally displaced people (IDPs) and distributed assistance such as blankets, plastic sheets, soap, jerry cans, firewood and other items to the four camps in the region. Relief items have also been delivered to some of the makeshift sites that have sprung up.

UNHCR staff have been engaged in protection monitoring to identify human rights abuses and other problems faced by IDPs and other populations at risk across North Kivu.

UNHCR's ninemillion campaign aims to provide a healthy and safe learning environment for nine million refugee children by 2010.

Posted on 28 May 2008

UNHCR/Partners Bring Aid to North Kivu

Displaced in North Kivu: A Life on the Run

Fighting rages on in various parts of the eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), with seemingly no end in sight for hundreds of thousands of Congolese forced to flee violence and instability over the past two years. The ebb and flow of conflict has left many people constantly on the move, while many families have been separated. At least 1 million people are displaced in North Kivu, the hardest hit province. After years of conflict, more than 1,000 people still die every day - mostly of hunger and treatable diseases. In some areas, two out of three women have been raped. Abductions persist and children are forcefully recruited to fight. Outbreaks of cholera and other diseases have increased as the situation deteriorates and humanitarian agencies struggle to respond to the needs of the displaced.

When the displacement crisis worsened in North Kivu in 2007, the UN refugee agency sent emergency teams to the area and set up operations in several camps for internally displaced people (IDPs). Assistance efforts have also included registering displaced people and distributing non-food aid. UNHCR carries out protection monitoring to identify human rights abuses and other problems faced by IDPs in North and South Kivu.

Displaced in North Kivu: A Life on the Run

The Central African Republic Crisis: Hardship and Resilience

As the conflict drags on in CAR, the UN refugee agency and its partners appeal for more support to help over 425,000 refugees in four neighbouring countries.

Joint Appeal: Help Needed for Central African Refugees

The UN refugee agency and its partners appealed for more donor support to cope with the continuing outflow and deteriorating condition of refugees from the Central African Republic.

UNHCR's Dr. Paul Spiegel on the Border of CAR and Cameroon

This video was shot by one of our staff* using a mobile phone as they helped refugees who had crossed the river to safety.